Author: Tim Verbovšek Mentor: doc. dr. Primož Ziherl

 Entropy  Polymers  Depletion potential  Experiment  Liquid crystals  Simulation Entropy in soft matter physics

 Long chains  Random walk  Real polymer chains  Entropic spring Entropy in soft matter physics

 Correlation of neighbouring bonds  Finite bond angle  Excluded volume  Self-avoiding walk; the polymer cannot intersect itself  The coil takes up more space Entropy in soft matter physics

 Macrospheres and microspheres  Exclusion zone  Asakura-Oosawa model (1954)  The result of overlapping exclusion zones is an attractive force between macrospheres Entropy in soft matter physics Microscopic image of milk. Droplets of fat can be seen.

Entropy in soft matter physics

 Optical tweezers hold the beads in place  The potential as a result of optical tweezers was found to be parabolic Entropy in soft matter physics

 Isotropic phase  Nematic phase  Director  Positions of the centers of mass are isotropic  Smectic phase  Layers  Smectic A  Smectic C  Columnar  Disk-shaped molecules Entropy in soft matter physics

 Entropy  With hard spheres and constant temperature, the free energy depends only on entropy  Polymers  Entropic spring  Depletion potential  Short-range attraction between colloids  Experiment  Liquid crystals  Phase transitions  Simulation Entropy in soft matter physics